Suffolk residents will no longer be required to separate recyclables into a blue cart beginning July 1. Instead, trash and recyclable materials will be collected together and sorted at a regional facility operated by the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA) using artificial intelligence and other sorting technologies.
TFC Recycling, a Chesapeake-based company that currently handles Suffolk’s curbside recycling collection, believes the city’s existing two-cart system should remain in place alongside the new technology. “We think what we do can complement what SPSA does and how we can keep more material out of the landfill and make sure more material gets recycled,” said Michael Benedetto, owner of TFC Recycling.
Benedetto said the company recently launched a petition encouraging city leaders to continue offering residents separate recycling and trash carts. He argues that combining source-separated recycling with SPSA’s new sorting technology would maximize the amount of material recovered.